Usually, known hand rakes, for example a hay rake, are formed entirely of wood, although this has a disadvantage of a relatively short effective life due to the fact that the implement is not very rugged, and also has the disadvantage of relatively expensive manufacture, since the row of tines, although they may be formed of the same material as the tool holder, i.e. the crosshead, still must be manufactured separately from the crosshead and then inserted into this latter, which from the outset means that the tines may possibly come loose from the crosshead.
Also known are hand rakes, for example rakes, wherein the crosshead consists of metal, the tines being integrally formed therewith. This type of manufacture is however expensive and does moreover mean that the hand rake may be quite weighty (approx. 800 g), which may excessively or prematurely fatigue the user of the hand rake if the work has to be performed over a prolonged period. In the case of a further type of hand rake, the tines are separate and are fitted to the crosshead which is formed for example from a metal tube, in that the top end of the tines are introduced into holes in the metal tube and are secured by being welded thereto.
All the known embodiments fail however fully to meet the demands made of them, since either by virtue of the material chosen, the hand rake becomes too heavy or by virtue of the method of manufacture chosen, the manufacturing costs are too high or it may be that due to the type of fixing means the tines may gradually become loosened. This latter disadvantage may easily become manifest under the rough usage to which the hand rake, for example intended as a hay rake, is frequently subjected.